Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - In an effort to reach out to the children of military parents, students from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville School of Education, Grant County 4-H and National Guard collaborated to assist the Community University Partnership to offer the first area Military Kids Program. UWP students, Tyler Wedig, Belmont; Krissy Adams, Lancaster; Austin McCrea, Galena, Ill.; and Sarah Rieser, Verona, participated in this event by becoming kids counselors for the weekend. Other counselors from Grant County 4-H included Bethany Keuter, Platteville; Samantha Jackson and Michelle and Travis Bates, Fennimore; Nicole Cray, Potosi; and Alyssa Adrian, Cassville. The program was held on March 10-12 at the Olympia Resort in Oconomowoc as part of the National Guard Family Weekend.

The weekend included discussions on coping skills, crafting memory boxes for the children to save and later share with their parents when they come back home, beginning journals and scrapbooks, making friendship bracelets and games for the children to participate in. At the end of the program, children also received hero-packs that UWP students assembled for them containing items like letters written by UWP students, disposable cameras for pictures to be sent to the parent, stationery, and teddy bears. Not only were the young children given these hero-packs, but the teenagers who attended the program that weekend were also presented with the packs. Connie Jackson, a chaperone for the 4-H counselors, commented about how well she thought the weekend went. Not only did the children involved have a wonderful time, but this experience has made a mark on her and the other counselors' lives. "I wasn't sure what to expect," she said, "but I know that this program made a difference to many people. It is a small thing we can do for those who have given up so much." "It was different than I expected," says Cray, a 16-year-old 4-H counselor from Potosi. "I expected to have a room full of kids that didn't want to be there and for the weekend to be kind of long, but it was amazing. These are really great people, the kind that stick with you forever, so it was really tough to say goodbye."

Another of the 4-H counselors, Adrian, who is 15 years old and from Cassville, said that the weekend created a really tight-knit atmosphere and also emphasized that saying goodbye was difficult. She describes one of her favorite memories as when, "Austin, one of the other counselors, taught a little boy how to tie his shoe. When the boy showed his mom, she looked like she could cry. Little things like that make a difference." "Being a counselor was important to me," says Wedig, a UWP business major from Belmont, "because I knew that for one weekend I could help out other families. It was a lot of fun and I would definitely do it again. Some of the parents needed this weekend just as much as the kids did. The program is an awesome idea." Sue Curtis, of the Community University Partnership, relays that the weekend was more than a success. "All of the counselors did a phenomenal job. The program couldn't have asked for a better group of people to work with. One of the most moving moments of the weekend," she continues, "occurred when the counselors did a presentation for the parents on Sunday giving them a better understanding of what activities their children participated in. In addition, counselors read some letters written for the kids by UWP students . . . it was hard to find a dry eye in the room. We were able to see the impact of all of the hard work we had done in that single moment."

As new troops are continually being deployed, this is only the beginning of a long, on-going effort. The Community University Partnership will be seeking new volunteers and donors to help with the construction of programs down the road. For more information, please contact Curtis, of the Community University Partnership, at (608) 342-1308 or by e-mail at curtissu@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Sue Curtis, Community University Partnership, (608) 342-1308, curtissu@uwplatt.edu

Prepared by: Marsha Pauly, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194,paulym@uwplatt.edu